In East Africa, Tanzania notably boasts Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. In addition to having the largest population in East Africa — 63.8 million people — as of 2020, over 60% of the Tanzanian population is under 25 years old. And while Swahili and English are the official languages, according to The World Factbook,* “the first language of most people is one of the local languages.”

One of the local languages, Nyika, is spoken by around 25,000 people. Although the majority of the Nyika identify as Christian, they don’t have God’s Word in a language they clearly understand, so most church services are taught in Swahili and use Swahili Scripture. This affects the whole congregation’s grasp of the biblical message, but it especially impacts women and young children who almost exclusively speak Nyika.

When Nyika church leaders heard it was possible to translate Scripture into their language, they were more than interested. “It would be a miracle!” one pastor exclaimed.

When the Nyika translation team began working on the Gospel of Luke, the community was excited and their excitement is only growing now that portions of the Bible are being tested in villages and churches. Because the Nyika people prefer oral communication over written communication, the translated passages are produced in an audio format. When people gathered around to listen to Luke 7:11 — the passage where Jesus raises a widow’s dead son to life — read aloud, a pastor noticed the depth of the group’s emotions. The people felt the widow’s sadness and viewed her as someone from their community. Many had heard this biblical account before but had never been this moved.

The project leader, Erick Emmanuel, said. “This community really uses their language; almost 100% of church leaders I’ve met are speaking Nyika. The translators feel this work is really important for their community.”

This sentiment is demonstrated by the sacrifices the translators are willing to make for the project. Another staff member noted: “Many of the people working as translators are pastors and evangelists. They are busy people. But they sacrifice and they work with us. … It’s amazing to see their commitment.”

The team’s goals are to publish the Gospel of Luke, dub the “JESUS” film, begin developing a writing system, participate in translation training workshops and train local church leaders. Praise God that people are coming alive when they hear Nyika Scripture and are drawing nearer to Him!

* cia.gov

Prayer points:

• That future Scripture engagement activities will progress smoothly.


• For more people to be drawn to Christ and transformed as they hear God’s Word in Nyika.


• Praise: The team has trained six translators and two consultants!